Drew Cronin

Environmental Science PhD, 2013

I applied for the NSF GRFP in the hopes of securing long-term funding for my research, examining the dynamic between different drivers of abundance of large mammals on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Bioko has an unexpectedly high amount of biodiversity, especially in the case of primates, but all fauna are facing a serious threat to their continued existence through illegal bushmeat hunting. As humans, we have the unique responsibility of being able to make profound choices that will ultimately decide what survives our impact, or is driven to extinction. It is with this knowledge that I ultimately hope to better the understanding of Bioko’s bushmeat and conservation situations. Only with the application of these data, will we be able to instigate better management of what could be a pristine refuge for some of the world’s rarest primates and set an example for biodiversity conservation worldwide.